Since the first clinical report in 2009, Transanal Total Mesorectal Excision (taTME), a novel approach in rectal cancer surgery, has been increasingly adopted worldwide. With taTME, the majority of the rectal dissection is performed transanally through specialized endoscopic platforms, rather than transabdominally, which overcomes many challenges related to deep pelvic dissection. While preliminary outcomes are encouraging, they are limited to case series and one international registry.

The US Multicenter Study of taTME for rectal cancer opened for enrollment in May 2017 (clinicaltrials.gov NCT03144765). This is a 5-year Phase II clinical trial investigating taTME with laparoscopic or robotic assistance in patients with resectable rectal cancer who are eligible for sphincter preservation. This trial is led by Patricia Sylla, MD at Mount Sinai Hospital, with a total of 100 patients to be enrolled among 10 US study sites. It is anticipated that this trial will help validate the safety and efficacy of taTME with respect to the quality of the resection achieved, perioperative outcomes, and oncologic and functional outcomes.

The study is funded in part by a generous grant from the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons Research Foundation (ASCRS RF), and sponsored by SAGES through grant support from Medtronic, Karl Storz, Richard Wolf, Intuitive, Applied Medical, Conmed, Olympus, Novadaq, Ethicon, and Stryker.